Golden Morning News | US lawmakers urge SEC to “approve spot BTC ETF”

Headlines

▌****U.S. lawmakers urge SEC Chairman to “immediately approve spot Bitcoin ETF”

Republican and Democratic senators such as Tom Emmer and Mike Flood wrote to Gary Gensler, chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, on September 27, asking him to “immediately approve a spot Bitcoin ETF.” According to the letter, Democrat Wiley Nickel urged Gensler to allow these listings, arguing that a regulated spot Bitcoin ETF would enhance investor protection by making access to Bitcoin more transparent and secure.

In the letter, the lawmakers stated that there is no difference between spot Bitcoin ETPs and Bitcoin futures ETPs. Therefore, the SEC’s current position is untenable.

Quotes

As of press time, according to coinmarketcap data:

The recent transaction price of BTC was US$26,222.8, with an intraday increase or decrease of +0.38%;

The recent transaction price of ETH was US$1,593.93, with an intraday increase or decrease of +0.68%;

BNB’s recent transaction price was US$212.66, with an intraday increase or decrease of +0.82%;

XRP’s recent transaction price was US$0.5015, with an intraday increase or decrease of +0.25%;

DOGE’s recent transaction price was US$0.0606, with an intraday increase or decrease of +0.20%;

ADA’s recent transaction price was US$0.2452, with an intraday increase or decrease of +0.20%;

SOL’s recent transaction price was US$19.03, with an intraday increase or decrease of -0.71%.

policy

▌** Acting Financial Secretary of Hong Kong: There are more than 800 financial technology companies in Hong Kong and will promote projects such as central bank digital currency**

Hong Kong Acting Financial Secretary Wong Wai-lun said at the Hong Kong Bankers Summit that the number of financial technology companies in Hong Kong has increased from about 180 five years ago to more than 800 currently. The Hong Kong government will continue to cultivate a large number of talents to support the development of financial technology and green finance. Projects such as central bank digital currencies will be promoted. The virtual asset trading platform JPEX was involved in a conspiracy fraud case involving nearly 1.5 billion yuan. Yao Wensong, CEO of the virtual bank ZA Bank (Zhongan Bank), which is actively developing its Web3 customer base, mentioned at the summit that this incident reflects the concern about the security of digital assets. The industry needs to jointly establish relevant standards.

▌****U.S. judge approves BlockFi’s bankruptcy plan

A document shows that U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michael A. Kaplan approved BlockFi’s third revised Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan at a court hearing on September 27. The repayment amount received by BlockFi’s unsecured creditors will be significantly higher. The extent depends on whether BlockFi can succeed in its legal battles with FTX and other bankrupt crypto companies.

BlockFi is estimated to owe up to $10 billion to more than 100,000 creditors, including $1 billion to its three largest creditors and $220 million to bankrupt crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital.

▌SEC delays decision on GlobalX Bitcoin ETF to November 21

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has postponed its decision on the issuance of a Bitcoin ETF by fund management company GlobalX, with the next deadline for resolution being November 21.

Golden Finance previously reported that on the same day, the SEC postponed the resolution deadline for the ARK 21Shares Spot Bitcoin ETF to January 10.

▌****Franklin Templeton files 19b-4 filing to initiate official SEC review process for its spot Bitcoin ETF

Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart said that asset management company Franklin Templeton submitted a 19b-4 filing, which means the SEC’s official review process for its spot Bitcoin ETF has been launched.

▌U.S. SEC Chairman: Failure to comply with securities laws is widespread in the encryption industry

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler will testify before the House Financial Services Committee tomorrow. According to prepared testimony, Gensler once again stated that most cryptocurrencies and crypto companies are subject to federal securities laws.

He said these securities laws “have been around for decades,” and “given the widespread noncompliance with securities laws in this industry, it’s not surprising that we’re seeing a lot of problems in these markets. We’ve seen this story before.” It’s reminiscent of what it was like in the 1920s before the federal securities laws were implemented.”

In his testimony, Gensler cited the agency’s rulemaking, including a statement issued in April that crypto platforms had become part of the definition of an exchange, including DeFi platforms.

▌****U.S. judge rules that SBF lawyers can present evidence of political donations to the jury

U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan said today that prosecutors can discuss Sam Bankman-Fried’s political donations in his upcoming trial as they relate to fraud charges facing the founder of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange.

Before FTX collapsed, Bankman-Fried had been one of the largest donors to Democratic candidates ahead of the November 2022 midterm elections. Kaplan said the evidence that the defendants used FTX client funds for political contributions is direct evidence of a wire fraud scheme because it is relevant to establishing the defendants’ motives and alleged fraudulent intent.

▌SEC postpones decision on ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF until January next year

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has postponed a decision on the proposed ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF until next year, with a new deadline of January 10.

“The Commission believes it is appropriate to specify a longer period for issuing an order approving or disapproving the proposed rule change so that the Commission has sufficient time to consider the proposed rule change,” it said in a filing.

Blockchain Application

▌****dYdX updates MEV dashboard to more accurately detect bad validators

dYdX said on the Order book differences in network noise, dYdX Trading is continuing to explore further mechanisms and protocol-level designs to prevent MEV withdrawals.

▌Bahrain ABC Bank uses JPMorgan Chase’s Onyx blockchain for cross-border payments

Bahrain-based ABC Bank will use JPMorgan Chase’s Onyx Coin s for blockchain-based cross-border payments in a soft launch or limited launch. The new service will be more cost-effective and shorten settlement times relative to traditional solutions.

ABC Bank will initially use U.S. dollars in transactions involving Bahrain, the United States, the United Kingdom, Singapore and Hong Kong. The partners also plan to trade in more locations and in euros. Programmable payments are also in development. Naveen Mallela, global head of Onyx Coin’s, said in a statement: “This enables cross-border commercial transactions between Bahrain and the United States to be executed immediately, automatically and with certainty.

▌Argus Labs founder: Crypto leverage will make Web3 games more attractive than just adding NFTs

Scott Sunarto, founder and CEO of Argus Labs, pointed out that one of the biggest challenges facing the gaming industry is using crypto leverage to make gaming more exciting.

He said: “A lot of game studios are building games based on Web2 and adding NFTs on top of it, and I’m really passionate about finding interesting ways to leverage crypto to make Web3 games more attractive than just owning collectibles. This can help build a better user experience and even provide features that other game publishers cannot offer."

Sunarto noted that game providers may want to have their own distributions, so publishers may turn to their own custom chains, which can better manage details such as gas subsidies.

▌**Arkham launches new data tracking function Arkham Tracer

Arkham said on the With Tracer, users can create, edit and save multi-level charts, allowing them to completely map the flow of funds from source to destination. This transaction tracker is already available on Arkham for all users.

Cryptocurrency

▌****Bloomberg Analyst: We may see delayed SEC decisions on other Bitcoin ETFs this week

Bloomberg Intelligence analyst James Seyffart said in the The SEC is simply taking action ahead of a potential federal government shutdown.

Analysts said they were unsure what this would mean for the Grayscale/GBTC situation, and that the SEC would have until October 13 to request a full hearing.

It is reported that the next proposed deadlines for BlackRock, Bitwise, VanEck, Invesco, Wisdomtree, Fidelity and Valkyrie ETFs are October 16 to October 19.

▌****The Federal Reserve said stablecoins could “become a source of financial instability”

The Federal Reserve Banks of Boston and New York released a report on September 27 titled “Flight to Safety: Are Stablecoins the New Money Market Fund?”

The report compares stablecoins such as USDT and USDC to money market funds. Key findings in the report include the observation that stablecoins and money market funds follow similar patterns in their operation, and that stablecoins may bring benefits to the broader financial world. The system brings instability.

The report stated that the findings indicate that stablecoins are vulnerable to runs during widespread crypto market disruptions and special stress events. If stablecoins continue to grow and become more closely linked to major financial markets such as short-term funding markets, they could become a source of financial instability for the broader financial system.

▌Bitcoin trading volume is at lowest level since March 2019

Data released by Santiment shows that Bitcoin trading volume (in dollar value) is at its lowest level since March 2019, a decline that coincides with Bitcoin exchange supply declining from its peak nearly three years ago.

▌Pantera Capital: Only 3% of crypto industry pay salaries in cryptocurrencies

About 97% of people in the crypto industry are paid their base salary in fiat currencies, while only 3% are paid in cryptocurrencies, according to a new study from digital asset investment firm Pantera Capital. The 2023 salary data is based on 1,046 responses.

Of those who paid in cryptocurrencies, the vast majority paid with the stablecoins USDC and USDT, with 13% choosing Bitcoin.

Research shows that the average salary of 570 engineers surveyed around the world is US$120,000, of which the salary of North American engineers is US$193,000, an increase of 1.5% over the previous year.

Important Economic Updates

▌****The U.S. Senate pushes a bipartisan bill to avoid a government shutdown, but the deadlock in the House of Representatives is difficult to break

Leaders of both parties in the U.S. Senate agreed on a stopgap bill on Tuesday that aims to keep the government running until mid-November and provide $6 billion in aid to Ukraine. The bill still needs a vote in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. House Speaker McCarthy could be ousted by hardline conservatives if he allows a vote on the bill. So far, at least 11 members of the Republican Party have said they will refuse to allow a vote on the bill unless McCarthy can win the support of some House Democrats. McCarthy said he plans to introduce a stopgap bill that would include deep cuts in domestic spending and changes to immigration laws that Senate Democrats and the White House are extremely reluctant to see. (Jinshi Data APP)

Golden Encyclopedia

**▌What institutions are we talking about when we say institutions are entering cryptocurrencies? **

We are in the midst of crypto conference season in the United States. So expect widespread discussions of “agencies are coming in” or “what do we need to achieve institutional adoption”. The fundamental problem is that in the United States, the term “institution” often encompasses too much. Institutions can actually include: large-scale asset owners (pension funds, endowments, foundations); asset management companies (such as Fidelity, Van Eck, Franklin Templeton, BlackRock, etc.); banks (JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, etc.) , Morgan Stanley, etc.); corporations (actually businesses, not real institutions); smaller asset owners (family offices, high net worth individuals).